


a sweet smile and a cold stare

by EllsterSMASH



Series: little pieces of us [2]
Category: Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age - All Media Types, Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: Gen, Politics, Prompt Fill, Racism
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-10
Updated: 2018-06-10
Packaged: 2019-05-20 01:27:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 710
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14885025
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EllsterSMASH/pseuds/EllsterSMASH
Summary: Prompt: [4. Their polite laughter after a not-so-funny joke.] + [16. The way they act around strangers.]An influential man comes to Skyhold, and Josephine finds herself in a tense situation when he insults the Inquisitor -- right to her face.First posted July 11, 2017





	a sweet smile and a cold stare

The visit was going surprisingly well. Comte Avellino Delmar, well-known for his lewd jokes and unapologetic opinions, had managed to navigate around any prickly subjects—accidentally, to be sure—and the Inquisitor had remained polite, if a bit quiet. That, at least, was not unusual. Like a cat, the usually warm and playful young woman was easily spooked, and had a tendency to revert to a wary silence around strangers. In fact, when Athi first “arrived” at Haven, it had taken Master Tethras a full week to coax a smile out of her.

However, Josephine could see Mistress Lavellan's energy waning at a rapid pace, and that rarely boded well. She needed to gently steer the conversation toward business so she could retreat to her office with the Comte and release the Inquisitor of her unwelcome duty.

 _Gently,_ she thought, _but quickly_. Thanks to Lavellan's lack of decorum, Josephine had already needed to mend more than one fractured ego, occasionally at great cost to the Inquisition.

Unfortunately, the Comte decided to dive headfirst into idiocy.

“Don’t you think it amusing, Madame Inquisitor, that the Great Lion of Honnleath should mate with a little rabbit? Will not the children be so confused?”

He laughed.

The Inquisitor did not, only stared at him, her eyes widened in disbelief as her fists clenched softly at her sides.

Josephine scrambled to redirect the tension. “As I have said before, your Lordship, there is absolutely no truth to that rumo—”

“Oh my dear Lady Montilyet, surely we are friends and can speak plainly! Or have I misjudged our relationship? Are you no longer in need of the trade agreements we discussed?”

Again, he laughed.

Again, the Inquisitor did not.

For a moment she was silent, jaw tensed and nostrils flaring, then her lips curved into a wry grin and she let out a gentle laughing breath.

“Since, as you say, we are friends now,” she purred, “I’ll share one of my secrets with you.” She hooked her finger and Comte Delmar leaned in like a wild dog to prey, hungry for a juicy tidbit to keep or share at his leisure. Lavellan’s, however, were dark and gleaming and far more dangerous.

 _So help me,_  Josephine thought, _if she hurts him,_ _I swear to the Maker that I will bury her in paperwork._

But she chose to wait. Watch. Worry and pray, as the Inquisitor threaded her fingers into the man’s pleated collar, then rose up on her toes to hum into his ear.

“I am well aware that you need us more than we need you, so call me a rabbit one more time and I’ll have my lion at your throat before sundown.” She released him with a sweet smile and a cold stare.

His own smile froze and then quickly broke into a forced thaw. The laugh that followed was too bright to be genuine, forced from his chest like water in the lungs.

She’d called his bluff.

“Yes, a, uh— well, a fascinating secret, to be sure . . . ” He turned to Josephine, who was still recovering from the sudden exchange of power. “Ambassador Montilyet, I believe we were to discuss some, ah, business today, but I find myself in need of a drink. Perhaps you will excuse me to seek out the cellars.”

“Nonsense,” she argued, tempering her insistence with honeyed words, “I will gladly accompany you myself. We do prefer not to lose our guests to the labyrinth beneath our floors.”

“Ah, no— I mean, yes, certainly, that would be . . . good," he finished lamely.

Lavellan clapped her hands together, and the Comte startled. “Well, if that’s settled, then I’m probably needed somewhere else. Anywhere else.” She turned abruptly and practically skipped away as Josephine carefully masked her confusion. Next to her, the Comte shifted uneasily.

With a nod and a smile, she showed him to the stairs. She had not expected a Dalish elf to know of the imbalances and exchanges between powers across Thedas, and indeed the woman had shown far more interest in people than in their resources. Though perhaps that was her secret. Regardless, it had worked. The Comte had shown his hand, and it was weak.

She predicted that the trade agreements would weigh heavily in their favor.

**Author's Note:**

> [[View on Tumblr](https://ellstersmash.tumblr.com/post/162886251716/4-their-polite-laughter-after-a-not-so-funny)]


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